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⛺Hiking 22,000 MILES Taught Me: PACK LIKE THIS | Ultralight Hiking Tips

Dave Morrow | Photography & Hiking

17,899 views

📩 How to Pack a Backpack PDF: https://www.davemorrowphotography.com...
📩 Hiking Food System PDF: https://www.davemorrowphotography.com...
📩 My Hiking Gear & Skills PDF: https://www.davemorrowphotography.com...

⏱️ TIMESTAMPS
0:00 - Intro: How to Pack a Backpack
0:56 - Waterproof Your Backpack: Don't Use Rain Covers
1:35 - Food: Centered on Spine
2:18 - Quilt/Bag: Stabilize Food & Fill Gaps
2:51 - PDF Download: How to Pack a Backpack
3:20 - Camp Layers
3:51 - Sleeping Pad
5:19 - Tent / Shelter (Storm Ready)
7:55 - Toilet Kit
8:00 - Small Essential Gear
8:54 - Outside Pockets: Trail Gear Only
12:16 - Daily Food: Outside Quick Access
14:41 - Common Mistakes: Optimize Your Packing System

⬇️ VIDEO DESCRIPTION ⬇️

Hiking 22,000 miles as a full-time wilderness photographer, I built a 7-step packing system to eliminate all trail friction and wasted energy.

Your packing system is broken if you’re:

-Opening the main compartment of your backpack on trail during the day.

-Relying on heavy clutter like zippers, stuff sacks, hydration bladders, or rain covers.

-Packing gear in unoptimized locations.

-Forcing your conscious mind to locate gear instead of moving equipment to repeatable locations with pure subconscious muscle memory.

Don’t worry—it’s easy to fix! In this video, I break down the exact optimization processes, physical mechanics, and structural rules needed to build an elite, zero-friction packing layout.

⛺⚙️ HIKING GEAR LIST: https://www.davemorrowphotography.com...

📷 ⚙️ PHOTO GEAR CHECKLIST: https://www.davemorrowphotography.com...

📷 PHOTO WORKSHOPS: https://www.davemorrowphotography.com...

#howtopackabackpack #ultralightbackpacking #ultralighthiking

20 Comments

@jayhikes 2 months ago

One of THE best backpacking channels on the Tubes

@anderssongibbs 2 months ago

Excellent as always. The attention to detail is outstanding. After 30 years I have almost identical gear/methods so I trust Dave's words implicitly.

@BernardDuffy-mo9ep 2 months ago

Absolute diamond intel,thank you.

@Satchel-Paige 1 month ago (edited)

I agree, everything should be put in the pack in the order it's taken out.
Extra clothes go in the bottom of the pack liner, followed by the sleeping bag, then the sleep system and power bank/cords on top.
Then the food bag and cookset go in the middle above the pack liner.
The tent is laid flat inside of a nylofume bag on top of the food bag, and any clothes used throughout the day go in a bag on top.
Water bottles, filter, sit pad, umbrella, and hiking poles go in the side pockets.
Rain gear goes in the back mesh pocket, along with all the rest of the gear which goes in a 9"x12" waterproof pouch.

@stevenbarker2600 2 months ago

Well done and presented! Thank you!!

@josephkershner4451 2 months ago

thanks for sharing your dialed in system and especially the thought processes that drive your decision making. that engineering background makes sense now

@FPLJCB 2 months ago

Wow man nice video. Love how detailed it is. A man of his craft

@klx4l1 2 months ago

Love your videos. PLEASE do a proper tutorial on how to plan your own routes, how to read terrain and how to navigate offline with a phone! Would also love to see a beginner guide on winter tours 😊

@NiranjanPaulshankar 1 month ago

🎉 nicely put

@roberttarantino6478 2 months ago

Great tips, thanks Dave!

@tomnoyb8301 2 months ago

Good principles. Might suggest rolling most every item that can be rolled and packing them vertically, side-by-side. Rolling is least wearing on gear (e.g. folding sleeping-pad wears a crease/failure-point). Side-by-side offers access to every item without removing any other rolled-item. Rolling side-by-side stiffens pack, eliminating the need for a frame. Suggestion-2, LiteAF packs are half the weight of Hyperlite, same materials and more comfortable. LiteAF names packs "Curve," because they are tailored to match spine's 'curve.' HL's are box-cut and don't fit/conform as well. (more...)

LiteAF's shoulder straps are thicker, lighter and more comfortable than HL's thin straps.

Graflyte is a new/better fabric, but no great packs are yet available in Graflyte. Nashville makes Graflyte packs, GG and HMG are both using Graflyte, but not in the frameless 45L (60L including pockets) zone of interest.

@BG_puller 2 months ago (edited)

Hey Dave, fellow hiker and aspiring UL backpacker here, hopefully you read this. Just wanted to take a moment and say thank you for all the helpful advice and tips. Your lifestyle is an inspiration to me. Thanks for helping to get me started on my backpacking journey.

@Pasequale100 2 months ago

yeah finally a valuable new extraordinary video from you :)

@martingoodwin56 2 days ago

Hey, love your stuff-very cool.
Could you please give the brand/model of the windshirt and pants that you have mentioned a few times in your other videos. It is a brown camo color. Thank you and stay safe.❤

@ansleygilmore 2 months ago

Wow.
Such a super data dump.
Excellent.
Thank you.
P.S. photography and hiking are such cool sports. I started taking photos in 7th grade (with a homemade pinhole camera), and backpacking the past 6 years. Hope my 74 year body lasts a few more years; joints are just starting to be a bit problematic.
Blessings.

@ralfhedin 2 months ago

Great, great video. Tnx a million!

@BushwalkingFTW 2 months ago

Another great video. I realised I hadn't subbed sorry. I switched to ultra low carb a couple of years ago. Background in Ironman. The more i refine my on trail diet and gear the more I 'unlock' from your vids. I just felt strong and so fast on a 14 day trip in the outback and used some of your ideas. The best i've actually ever felt on a longer trail. Even little stuff like trickling in carbs by nibbling a bar etc. This gear vid is the same. It is not until you use this system that you understand it.

Thanks for all the great information.

@corleyoutdoors2887 2 months ago

Informative and beneficial video

@thruguru 2 months ago

⭐️Always appreciate a fresher with your insights.
Clint☀️🇦🇺

@SimplifyHiking 2 months ago

To be fair, you have a lot of stuff sacks, albeit different designs than cinch tops. You have your food bag, two Hyperlite pods, a few Ziplocs, etc. All of these bags are performing the duty of variable-sized stuff sacks.

Also, you mentioned you don’t like GoreTex, but do you carry any sort of raingear (jacket, poncho, umbrella)?

Ultralighters are more and more leaving the puffy jacket at home and just taking a fleece. If they get cold they put their rain layer over that as a rain layer is not breathable and it traps the heat of the fleece.